I work in a gas turbine (frame 6b) controlled by mark-4. A few days ago the hmpk card was damaged. the spare parts of mark-4 is quite expensive now also not available. so we want to upgrade this system to mark-5 or something newer. now I want to know that, what is the procedure to upgrade the system i mean. Which parts is needed to be changed? is any parts of mark-4 is needed or can use?

Any change of turbine is needed?
I also want to know about HMI, is it a circuit board or a controller and where or what is the use of it? Is it used in mark-4.
I need the answer immediately.... pls help

 

I suggest you contact GE. They would probably recommend upgrading to Mark VI. I am not sure they even do Mark V upgrades any more. There should not be any turbine changes required to upgrade the control, at least outside of some possible instrumentation changes - but I think most, if not all, Mark IV instrumentation should be useable. GE would be able to tell you.

The HMI is a PC and provides the operator interface to the Mark VI control. It uses CIMPLICITY graphics software. It communicates with the control via redundant Ethernet data highway.

 

One of the advertisers here on control.com, GTC (Gas Turbine Controls Corporation) has Mark IV parts which they warrant. Their website is www.gasturbinecontrols.com.

There are other vendors who also have Mark IV parts.

If you want to upgrade your Mark IV and you want a new GE Speedtronic turbine control system, your only choice is GE or one of its packagers. The current version of Speedtronic that is being produced and sold is Mark VIe (the exact meaning of the 'e' is in debate; some think it means 'Enhanced', while others think it means 'Ethernet' because of the use of Ethernet to connect the cards and processors).

At any rate, you can buy an entire Mark VIe, in a new control panel enclosure, to replace your Mark IV, or, GE has something they call the Mark IV Migration. The Mark IV Migration uses Mark VIe components, mounted on sheetmetal assemblies. These sheetmetal assemblies also have Mark IV terminal board bases, in the same locations as the existing Mark IV terminal board bases.

So, what they do is come to your site, unplug all the Mark IV terminal boards from their existing bases with the field wiring still attached to the removable portions of the terminal boards, and then they remove all of the Mark IV components.

Then they hang these sheetmetal assemblies with the Mark IV terminal board bases and Mark VIe components, many of them mount on existing bolts and screws which were used to hold the Mark IV components. There are a couple of wiring harnesses that are used to connect all of the Mark VIe components together that they need to hook up, and then they plug the Mark IV terminal boards with the field wiring attached into the new terminal board bases. They do some quick checks and power-up the panel and do loop-checks, and then start-up and commission the panel and turn it over to you to operate.

Now, they will remove the <OPM> (the Operator Interface Module) from the left front door, and modify the door to accommodate a panel-mounted HMI. The HMI is a self-contained PC (monitor, hard disk, optical drive, Ethernet ports, etc.) loaded with MS-Windows and CIMPLICITY and the software necessary for the HMI to communicate with, configure, and troubleshoot and maintain the Mark VIe. There is also a keyboard and mouse which can be mounted in a rollout drawer.

Additional HMIs (desktop tower PCs) can be remotely mounted simply by running Ethernet cable (copper or fiber optic) to the remote control room.

So, you get a new Mark VIe, which can be installed relatively quickly, without the need to determinate all of the field wiring from the Mark IV, remove the Mark IV, install a new Mark VIe in a new control panel, and then reterminate all the field wires in new locations. All of this takes times, and depending on where the Mark IV is located, it can be very difficult to remove the Mark IV and install the new Mark VIe control panel enclosure.

Sounds great, but it really only makes sense if you absolutely have to minimize downtime for the control system upgrade. While the Mark VIe is capable of expansion, adding functionality to a Mark IV Migration is not pretty. Typically the field wiring in the Mark IV is not very clean or neat, and adding new wires and cables to the panel just doesn't look very well nor is it very easy. So, if you're at all considering adding functionality at some time to the turbine, a Mark IV Migration is not a really good choice.

Also, if you're considering doing the turbine control panel upgrade at the same time as a turbine outage (such as a hot gas path inspection or a major inspection--both of which can take a week or three or more), a Mark IV Migration is not a good idea. Just go for a full-blow Mark VIe in a new panel/enclosure.

There are also companies that would like to sell you a PLC-based control system to replace your Mark IV. Don't do it. This topic has been covered many times on control.com; if you need a reference, just let us know.

The Mark IV is a decent control system. It has its shortcomings, and it is getting quite old in technology terms. You will absolutely be thrilled with the capabilities of the Mark VIe versus what the Mark IV can do.

So, to wrap up, the typical control system upgrade path is to completely remove the old system and install a new system. This requires a lot of work and time and in some cases a lot of effort and planning to rig the old panel out and the new panel in. GE offers a couple of solutions, depending on your needs both now and in the future.

Good luck; hope this helped!

 

Officially, the "e" in Mark VIe stands for "enhanced." The differences between Mark VI and Mark VIe are more than the Ethernet communications with the I/O cards. When used for BOP control, the controllers are available in dual redundant configuration as well as TMR.

Remote I/O is also available for BOP control. It is expected to be available at some point for gas and steam turbine control as well, after validation testing on the new turbine I/O modules is complete.